Koç University, Istanbul
Spring 2014
Experience report
ANR: 107585
Name:Romy van Kuijk
E-mail:romy93@live.nl
Exchange semester:Spring, 2014
Academic year: 2013-2014
Host University:Koç University
Country: Istanbul, Turkey
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Koç University is a private university located in Sariyer, about 25 kilometers outside of the city
center of Istanbul. The university is very well-known in other parts of Turkey as well, known to
be for the ‘rich’ people. The university is literally located on a hill and surrounded by forest,
which is very different from the crowdedness of the city center of Istanbul. To reach the city
center I had to use different types of public transport, such as dolmus (minbus), bus and
metro. Dependent on the traffic and type of transport it took me about one hour to reach the
city center, but it can easily take you two hours if you take a bus and there is a lot of traffic.
That’s also why the location of the university is quite a disadvantage. It makes you think twice
if you want to visit something shortly in the center or think about heading downtown for dinner.
There are two airports in Istanbul, one on the Asian side and one on the European side. I
arrived at Sabiha Gökçen, the one on the Asian side. My arrival was not organized by my host
university, although there was a document posted on the exchange Facebook page with
arrival dates and times of other exchange students, so you could share a cab. Since there
were no other students arriving at the same time I took a private cab from the airport to the
university. I certainly recommend future exchange students to bring a small map and address
of the university so you can easily point out where you want to go to (cab drivers’ English
proficiency is usually very poor). Being in such a big city for the first time, I remember thinking
‘’Where are we going?’’
During my time in Istanbul I stayed in housing provided by the university. There were two
campuses, main and west campus. I stayed in triple together with a Turkish and Canadian
roommate. The university had a special ‘integration policy’, meaning that they placed
exchange students together with a Turkish student in a room. As a result undergraduate
exchange students were all ‘scattered’ over two campuses and different buildings (and some
also arranged their own accommodation). In my opinion it would have been better to locate all
exchange students on the same campus, or even in one building, so it would have been
easier to organize cooking parties or whatsoever. In general I feel like most of the Turkish
students didn’t want to spend too much effort in bonding with exchange students, but that
may be because of the private nature of the university.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Prior to my stay in Turkey I had to arrange a student visa. Therefore I had to go to the Turkish
consulate in Rotterdam and it didn’t take me too long. However, when I arrived in Turkey I
also had to arrange a residence permit, by which exchange students received support from
Koç. Prior to arriving I received some information from my home university, such as login
details for my mail and the university information system. Moreover, I was assigned a mentor
who could answer my questions or who could help me in case I encountered any problems.
Before classes started exchange students were encouraged to take part in the orientation
week. The organized activities were predominantly informative, such as course registration,
but also more informal such as a night out or visiting a traditional hammam. I experienced a
lot of difficulties with registering for my courses. Firstly, I was unlucky to have some problems
with my login details so I was unable to login on computers. Also the course registration
system completely crashed because of the overload of students trying to register for their
courses at the same time, resulting in huge waiting lists and sending a lot of e-mails to
instructors begging them to let me take their courses. In the end I was able to get into all the
courses I wanted to take.
Koç University, Istanbul
Spring 2014
Eschange students received a museum card shortly after arrival. With this museum card you
have a free access (or discount) to a lot of touristic ‘attractions’ not only in Istanbul itself but
also in other parts of Turkey. I certainly recommend future exchange students to always carry
this card with them and to ask whether you have free access with this card (also for nonmuseum).
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
In total I took five courses related to my major Communication- and Information Sciences and
one language course:
- Social Psychology
- Social Cognition
- Marketing Management
- Advertising and Promotion
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Turkish (for beginners)
All courses were taught in English, although in some classes students asked questions in
Turkish and instructors also tend to answer them in Turkish. Instructors’ level of English was
in general good. The level of the courses was lower as at Tilburg University, but I think the
workload for the courses compensated for this. There were more contact hours (each class
was given twice a week), quizzes, more group projects and not only final exams, but also
midterms.
I certainly don’t regret taking a Turkish class, since it was quite enjoyable learning the basics
of a language of your host country. I felt proud seeing Turkish words on the streets and
knowing their meaning, being able to ask simple things such as directions and have small
basic conversations with locals. I think Turkish people also appreciate it when you are trying
to learn their language and sometimes they are overwhelmed by the fact that you know some
Turkish and start whole conversations in Turkish (resulting in saying ‘’Ama biraz Turkçe
konuşuyorum’’, which means ‘’But I speak a little bit Turkish’’). I certainly recommend future
exchange students to take a Turkish language course, because it is not only enjoyable to
know a little bit of Turkish but also it has been very practical for me in several situations,
because a lot of Turkish people (especially outside of tourist areas) cannot speak English or
very poorly.
IV ABOUT THE HOST COUNTRY
Normally living in small quiet village, living in Istanbul was quite an experience for me.
Istanbul symbolizes the gathering of East and West. The Bosphorus bridge literraly connects
East and West to each other. The population of Istanbul is about the same (or maybe even
more?) as the Netherlands. It’s amazing how thousands of people are daily provided by food
and how all these people get from one place to another. Contrary to the campus where I
stayed the city center is very crowded and divided in different areas. In the old city you find a
lot of touristic ‘attractions’ such as Topkapı Palace, the Grand Bazar and Blue Mosque. You
can also escape this crowdedness by taking a ferry to Princes’ Islands, also known as Adalar.
I really enjoyed wandering around the small streets of Istanbul and eating typical Turkish
things such as Balık ekmek (fish bread). If you are at the right place at the right time (read:
sunset) and just forget the traffic for a second Istanbul truly is an enchanting city.
My time in Istanbul was also a political unstable one. During my stay there were several
protests as a result of the dead of the little boy Berkin who had been in a coma after he got
injured in the Gezi protests last year, elections and the mine accident in Soma. I consciously
chose to stay away from the areas where protests were going on, because it would be unsafe
to go there unprepared and getting hurt by tear gas and water cannons. It feels weird walking
in Taksim knowing that there were heavy protests going on just one day ago.
Koç University, Istanbul
Spring 2014
During my stay I also travelled quite a lot in Turkey itself, varying from day trips such as Bursa
and Safranbolu and staying multiple days in places such as Kemer, Olympos, Fethiye,
Cappadocia and Pamukkale. You can take cheap buses from one city to another, but
domestic flights are also cheap. I certainly recommend future exchange students to visit the
beautiful Cappadocia, the tree houses in Olympos and to do paragliding in Ölüdeniz (which
was one of my best experiences).
I have had both positive and negative experiences with Turkish people. In general I find
Turkish people very friendly and helpful, even if they don’t understand you because of a lack
of English they will try their best to help you and to make your stay comfortable. I experienced
great hospitability. However, I do think that the pushy men trying to sell their goods in touristic
areas srew things up a bit. These men are so annoying and left a bad impression. Also I feel
(as a blond girl – pale skin) like it would be impossible for me to ever feel fully integrated in
this culture. I guess I would still be approached as a tourist after many years of living in
Turkey. Literally the last week of my stay abroad I was ‘welcomed in Turkey’ and wished ‘a
nice holiday’.
Although I think I made the most of my exchange experience under my circumstances I would
have done a few things differently if I had the chance. Firstly, I’d rather study at a university in
the city center and live together with international flatmates. Furthermore, I’d have chosen
less courses so I had more time for bonding and hanging out with friends. Sometimes it was
hard for me do all the things I wanted to do: getting high grades (since I have to graduate),
sightseeing, travelling and spending time with friends.